


let your words fall out

by justwannabeafangirl



Series: spierfeld week [7]
Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: AU, Coming Out, Gen, but you won't notice it if you haven't seen it, slight movie reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 18:56:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14338923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justwannabeafangirl/pseuds/justwannabeafangirl
Summary: “I — I’m gay.” Simon took a deep breath. “I’ve known for a while and I’ve been hiding it because I was afraid of how you guys would react but it’s been really hard for me to be happy while also not being myself and I just can’t take it anymore. I’m going to be myself and be proud of who I am.”-or-AU where Simon comes out to his friends on his birthday : )Title: "Brave" by Sara Bareilles





	let your words fall out

**Author's Note:**

> Spierfeld Week Day 7: Coming Out

It was the best day of the entire year. Simon’s birthday was the one day every year when Nick, Leah, and now Abby went over to Simon’s house and marathoned all eight Harry Potter movies. They made butterbeer, ate chocolate frogs, and bought Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, praying that they wouldn’t end up eating one of the disgusting flavors. It was the only way Simon could ever imagine celebrating his birthday.

But this year, Simon didn’t feel much like celebrating.

He had just begun to come to terms with his sexuality, the fact that he was gay, but he hadn’t found the courage yet to tell anyone, not even his best friends. He couldn’t be himself openly and it killed him inside. Even listening to Elliot Smith and Tegan and Sara to distract himself from all of this didn’t help. It was a constant presence in his mind, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Well, there was one thing.

He could come out.

But this was Shady Creek, Georgia. This wasn’t Los Angeles or New York City. Not everyone here was accepting of the LGBT+ community, and he didn’t want to risk losing his best friends, the friends he’d had for almost his whole life, over this.

Simon was lost in thought as he sat down at the lunch table. “Surprise!” his friends shouted, snapping him back to reality. His friends were all grinning with party hats on their heads; a giant homemade cake sat on the table with the words “Happy Birthday Simon!!” written on it and candles ablaze. Simon tried to put a smile on his face to hide what he was feeling. He was only mildly confident that it worked.

“Happy birthday, Si!” Leah said, running around the table to give Simon a big hug. “It’s your favorite,” she continued, gesturing to the cake.

His smile became just a bit more genuine. “Thanks, Leah. This is incredible.”

A small crowd had begun to form around their table, which only ever happened on birthdays. Other times, everyone seemed to completely ignore them. Who wants to hang out with a bunch of AP nerds, anyway? But when there was cake involved, people ignored social cliques.

“You guys know the rules,” Leah said, turning to the crowd with her hands on her hips. “If you want cake, you need a party hat.” People scrambled to grab the last of the ones that Nick had brought in before resorting to making their own out of whatever they could find. Leah laughed as she served cake first to Simon, then to their friends, then to everyone in the crowd until they finally ran out. She plopped down in her seat with a sigh, eating as quickly as she could before the bell rang.

“Hey, Simon,” Nick said, catching up to Simon as he left the cafeteria after the bell rang to signal the end of lunchtime. “What do you think of inviting Garrett and Bram to your birthday party tonight?”

Simon shrugged. “We’ve never invited them before. This is our tradition.”

“Abby wasn’t part of the original tradition and we invited her. We’ve been hanging out with Garrett and Bram for forever. Let’s officially welcome them into our squad.”

Simon grinned. “You had me at ‘squad’,” he said, and Nick laughed. “Sure, why not.”

“Great! I’ll send them the details. See you later, dude.” He walked quickly down the hall in the other direction, looking down at his phone and typing frantically as he walked.

Today was definitely going to be different. Simon could feel it.

 

———

 

Just as he was finishing his birthday dinner with his family, Simon heard the doorbell ring. “Your friends are early,” his mom commented as she and Simon’s dad cleared the dishes away.

“There are a lot of movies, Mom. The sooner we start, the more sleep we get.”

“Alright, can’t argue with that. Just make sure that you do sleep, okay?”

“Okay, Mom,” Simon replied, knowing full well they weren’t going to sleep much.

He opened the door; Leah was standing on the doorstep with Abby by her side and Nick, Garrett, and Bram walking up the driveway to the front door. “Come on in!” he said, stepping aside to give them room to walk inside.

Simon led them downstairs to the basement and they all plopped onto the couch as Simon put the first DVD into the player, turned the TV on, and dimmed the lights.

After two and a half movies, though, Simon couldn’t take it anymore. With a sigh, he stood up and paused the movie, Daniel Radcliffe’s face front and center onscreen. How fitting.

“Si, what’s wrong?” Leah asked, concern written all over her face.

“Is everything okay?” Abby asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I just, I can’t take this anymore.” He stood in front of his friends, his hands in his pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking.

“Can’t take what anymore?” Bram asked softly.

“I — I’m gay.” Simon took a deep breath. “I’ve known for a while and I’ve been hiding it because I was afraid of how you guys would react but it’s been really hard for me to be happy while also not being myself and I just can’t take it anymore. I’m going to be myself and be proud of who I am.”

“Si,” Leah said, exhaling. “Si, I’m so proud of you right now.” She stood up and gave him a huge hug as tears slipped down his cheeks.

“Me too,” Nick seconded, and everyone agreed, joining the hug until it was a giant group hug.

Simon couldn’t stop smiling if he tried. “Thank you, guys,” he whispered. He’d never felt so relieved in his entire life. One thing was for sure: he’d definitely picked the right people to hang out with every single day.

“Should we get back to the movies, then?” he said, grinning.

“Hell yeah!” Garrett replied, and everyone returned to the couch, laughing as Simon pressed play.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I couldn't resist putting that movie reference in there : )  
> 2\. I'm so sorry this is late again.  
> 3\. I had a blast participating in Spierfeld Week!! I'm sad to see it end, but I hope there's another event like it again soon. I can't wait to read all of the fics people wrote : )
> 
> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://justwannabeafangirl.tumblr.com)!!


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